The main objective of the Distance Education Council is to decide, initiate and imply steps and strategies to promote and at the same time improve the distance education system in the country. The Distance Education Council, Indira Gandhi National University, passed by the Parliament of India prescribes guidelines for controlling and standardizing the distance education system. All the independent institutions who facilitate distance learning are hence required to get a certification from the Distance Education Council and can only then give degrees diplomas or certificates to the students.

The Dept. of Education, Ministry of Human Resources Development, Govt. of India based on the Indian council distance education stated on April 8th, 1995 in the Gazette of India that all the institutions which have been deemed to be universities under Section 3 of UGC Act, by the Government of India and are qualified and approved by the Distance Education Council established by an Act of Parliament or State Legislature automatically gets documented for being able to sit for government jobs and can provide their services in the central government. The Distance education council develops a network between the various universities across the nation in accordance with the different state governments and other related institutions.

It is thus extremely important for a student to make sure that the institution he or she is applying to for distance education is approved by the Distance Education Council. If the institution is not recognized, the students would not be allowed to apply for Government services as it has been mentioned in the document.

There are various distance education council institutes in India that facilitate different subjects depending upon the students’ choice. Some of the approved universities ore IGNOU, Kota Open University, Yashvantrao Chavan Maharashtra Open University, Madhya Pradesh bhoj University, Netaji Subhas Open University etc.